


Time and Time Again (When We Meet Again)

by Anonymous



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Callum (The Dragon Prince) Centric, Gen, Help, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Time Loop, Time Travel, but for some godforsaken reason im still writing this, i dont rly ship anything in this fandom, ik s2 is coming out in less than two weeks, jsyak, might change in the second season, probs not tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-20 22:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17630768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: His pencil made fine marks across the page, smooth and gliding with ease. It took several minutes to clean up the sketch, but sure enough the figure was recognizable. Colorless hair rested easily on shoulders, a braid firmly tucked behind one ear, and soft eyes gazed unseeingly past the page, but most noticeably the horns stuck out, the most detailed part of the piece. Every curve, partially covered with slightly wild hair, and paired with pointed ears, all pointed to the undeniable.Gone were the over exaggerated, bordering on demonic caricatures that represented elves, and in it's place was a face far too familiar for comfort





	Time and Time Again (When We Meet Again)

In the moment that he broke the Primal Stone, Callum felt a rush of power flow through him, exhilarating and unexpected. The storm escaped and rumbled, the feeling echoing throughout his body as a bolt of lightning shot up at the sky, as if it were a flare to summon dark storm clouds that quickly approached.

Then the wind flared, and they were all scrambling to hold on tight to something, anything, just so they didn’t fly off the side of the cliff to tumble down and meet an unfortunate end, but the egg had no such limbs or awareness to do anything and it quickly skipped and rolled away, skidding to the edge with alarming speed. Rayla quickly reacted and ran towards the egg, somehow managing her balance to keep from toppling over until she reached it, which upon she promptly began to make her way back, close to the ground.

The wind howled in his ears, and his arms tightened around Ezran and Bait as they watched Rayla, helpless and with anticipation. She got out her blade and stabbed the ground, gripping it tightly as if her life depended on it, in this case it probably did. Callum didn’t know when the wind would calm down, but when he saw a stray branch smack itself into Rayla’s bruised arm he winced and thought to himself ‘ _ Don’t give up’ _ . 

He wasn’t sure if he had spoken, or if anyone had (though he might have), because all he could hear was the sound of the wind, but just as suddenly as it started, it calmed, and everyone found themselves catching their breath, before focusing on the sporadic shocks surrounding the egg, increasing in intensity and frequency, and suddenly there was color everywhere, glimmering through every inch of visible surface, bright and intense, and Callum felt the hope thrum in his veins envelop him so tightly, excitement making his heart pound as everyone seemed to hold their breath, waiting to see what came next and-

He sat up in bed, short of breath, heart pounding, but undeniably in his bed, under warm covers. His hand instinctively reached for his heart, grasping tightly at the bed shirt that covered his chest. It took a few moments to refocus, and when he finally came to, he found himself staring at familiar walls, reality catching up with him.

Was it a dream? Had he really just dreamt that all up? It had felt so real, so vivid, so raw, yet everything around him pointed to it being a dream. Nothing was disturbed, the door that separated his and Ezran’s bedrooms was cracked as usual, his brother’s snores softly making their way to his ears. His sketchbook was open, to a sketch he had been working on diligently the night previous, and when he flipped through it, the new sketches he thought he had made were not there, only scant memories from what was becoming increasingly proved to be a dream. 

Callum frowned. It had felt like nothing like his dreams before, but nothing from it could be proven. Had he made up Rayla and the other elves, the adventure on the Cursed Caldera, the people they had met? He liked to think he was creative, but something like this…

He got dressed, in his usual clothes that were none too fancy, but nothing so slobby. He didn’t restrict himself to the fancy clothes Ezran had to wear, donning a more casual coat, and slipping his art bag over his shoulder, but he quickly patted himself down, combing his hair for a minute to make sure his appearance wasn’t too untidy, because while he wasn’t the most important royal figure, he still had an image to keep. Then he made his way down, grabbing a quick bite to eat as he made his way around the castle, killing time before he figured what he had to do.

He didn’t know what day it was, unsure of when reality ended and his dream began, but he never really had any fancy official duties in the first place, so he didn’t worry so much about what he had to do. Even his schooling was considerably more lenient than his brothers’, though not any less difficult.

Soon enough, he found himself outside, directly below of his stepfather's balcony. He gazed upwards and saw his stepfather up there, talking with Viren as he tended to Pip. Callum wasn't sure why, but for some reason he felt a great rush of relief, and a good deal of tension left him. King Harrow was okay, he was fine, he was  _alive_. Callum smiled to himself. His dream, no matter how real it felt, was not true in any sort of way. It was all okay, they were all okay, so there was nothing to worry about. The most he had to worry about is Ezran stealing goods from the kitchens, Soren's strange comments about his place in the family, and his... _fondness_ for Claudia. There was no elves, no secret dragon prince egg hidden away in the dungeons, no Primal Stone, no 3 limbed dog, he  _wasn't_ a mage,  _nothing_ , and it would stay that way, because it was just a dream and it was in no way real. He still didn't know what day it was, but that was okay because he'd figure it out, and he all the time in the world to do so. 

He ignored the sinking feeling in his gut at the prospect of not being a mage. He didn't understand why, but it was better not to think too much of it.

Instead, he made his way to the courtyard where he often watched the Royal Guard train, with Soren in command. It was exciting for him, to watch the knights he admired and aspired to be train. Occasionally, Soren would teach him a tidbit on how to train himself, and though more often than not it left him more confused than before, it was still something that excited him. Again, he didn't think too much on why he suddenly didn't feel as excited than before, and blamed it on the dream he had.

Waiting for him in the middle of the clearing stood Soren. Feet spread firmly on the ground, and a wooden sword perched in front of him, he was every bit intimidating and confident as the Captain of the Royal Guard should be. Still, Callum approached him with ease, and he noticed Soren sigh, sight flickering away as he greeted the prince. It was a familiar sight, nothing unusual about it since this wasn't their first lesson together, but the exact motions Soren made the feeling in Callum's gut flicker with something akin to unease, but that couldn't be right, so Callum shoved that aside to the part of his mind he would Not Be Revisiting.

"Prince Callum." Soren started. "Today we focus on the art of-"

"Art!" Callum interrupted. "Finally something I'm good at."

The foreboding feeling of déjà vu tugged harder at him with every word that left his mouth. He'd said that before, but in his dream, and following that was- yep, there it was, the frown that etched Soren's face was one he was all too familiar with was there, just like before.

"Sorry, sorry. Won't interrupt again. Please, uh, continue Soren." Callum raised his hands apologetically. He tried to keep back the grimace that came with the continuous and ever growing feeling of having done this before, but if it showed on his face Soren didn't give any indication of it, and accepted his meager attempt at placation and continued.

"The art of defense-"  _is critical in sword-fighting_ , Callum finished in his head silently unthinkingly, and sure enough a moment later Soren completed that thought aloud. Great. Now that he had gone and proven to himself that something was seriously  _off_ , he couldn't ignore it. He was perfectly content with not acknowledging it in the first place, perhaps hoping if he denied its significance it would be so, but unfortunately he couldn't keep to his own plan for more than two seconds apparently.

Unless he ignored his little blip and continued on as if he didn't notice anything amiss in the first place. Suddenly, that uneasy feeling that had backed off a bit upon admitting it to himself was back, and stronger this time. Yeah no, nevermind, maybe that wasn't the best idea.

So what was?

"Misjudge your opponent, and it's over. You ready?" Soren brought Callum's attention back to the present. What was going on? Oh right, swordfighting practice. 

"Uhhh, I'm going to have to say no." said Callum.

"Great. Let's do this." said Soren, pulling his own practice sword out of his sheath (Callum wondered where Soren's actual sword was.).

_ Oh great, _   he was about to have his arse handed to him again. Callum internally winced, he was not looking forward to that, but if he remembered correctly...

"Parry, parry, parry you're-" Soren started, his moves tapping firmly against Callum's sword, knocking him back a step with every hit. Callum grimaced, but he angled his sword just so the "killing" blow was diverted. Distinctly, he could hear gasps of disbelief from the onlookers and felt a sting to his pride; he wasn't  _that_ bad that managing a move for once was surprising, was he?

"...alive?" Soren finished. "That was pretty good; have you been holding out on me?"

Callum laughed nervously. "Guess I'm just a late bloomer? Or maybe just lucky?"

Soren raised a brow before taking a stance again. "Should we put that to the test?"

_ No thanks, thanks  _ Callum thought, but Soren was already on him, sword flying faster around him. Callum recognized these moves, but his body wasn't nearly as used this training to keep up, and only managed to not fall with every hit aimed at him, at least until the "killing" blow.

"Guess it really was luck, haha." Callum grinned sheepishly from the ground. "But really? Even if I was wearing armor?"

"Even if you were wearing the rarest legendary armor, forged by Sunfire elves... Super dead." Soren leaned over him.

"Ugh, forget about being a late bloomer, I really am terrible at this." Callum groaned.

"Yep!" Soren agreed way too happily, extending a hand. Callum resigned to his fate and accepted it. "But you have to practice anyway, because that's what's expected of a prince. Or a step-prince, actually." he continued as Callum turned to pick up his sword.

"What?" Callum turned around. He definitely heard Soren this time around.

"What?" Soren echoed. A moment of silent passed, but then Soren picked right back up as if he didn't miss a beat. "But... I wouldn't say you're hopeless. You may not have the muscles now, but I saw that look in your eye. You're good at learning by seeing and experiencing, I guess, sorta." Soren shrugged.

"Th..anks?" Callum hesitantly accepted. He wasn't able to say anything more, because it was at that moment that Claudia began to pass by, her nose buried deep into a book, and like usual she captured his attention. He felt his lips begin to tug into a smitten smile, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Soren make a face that looked something similar, though not quite a sneer.

"Hey, your sister..." Callum started, but then paused. All this time he had been actively changing the events of how his dream, future vision?, went, but he wondered what would happen if he purposely didn't act out this time. Soren hadn't seemed to notice his sudden change in attitude, instead focused on watching his sister get closer and closer to the tree, so he could act dumb and not do anything. Would she notice last second and stop? Or would she actually run into the tree like Soren seemed to hope.

He kept quiet.

 

**Author's Note:**

> i was gonna make this chapter longer but its literally 2am and im tired so yeah  
> ig ill update later otherwise leaving this story without the scene thats stuck in my head for too long will bother me to no end


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